The Session Border Control market continues its metamorphosis. The recent acquisition of Kagoor by Juniper was just the first step in what I believe will be an ongoing process changing the landscape.

Data Connection announced a software solution for OEMs that would enable them to add Session Border Control functionality to routers and softswitches.

I knew this day would come. I’d been speaking to vendors about the possibility of this happening for some time now, and while reaction to this concept was mixed, the general trend was acceptance. And so, it’s finally here. The release is below.

DC-SBC is available as a complete source code solution for vendors of softswitches, routers, gateways, firewalls, and IP PBXs as well as standalone session border controllers.By incorporating DC-SBC into their existing products, OEMs will be able to offer service providers complete Session Border Controller (SBC) functionality as a software upgrade to platforms already installed in their networks.System vendors benefit by providing platforms with increased service and security capabilities but at greatly reduced development costs and time-to-market.Service providers benefit from a much greater choice of SBC solutions, which will be available on a wider range of hardware platforms.

“SBC features and services are absolutely essential in VoIP networking but are not addressed by the incumbent platforms that provide the foundation of these networks. This fact, combined with the explosion of VoIP services, has created huge demand for SBC functionality which is best served by legacy softswitches and routers,” said Phil McConnell, CEO of Data Connection.

SBCs are a set of functions that control session-based traffic at the signaling and packet layers, allowing increased security and enhanced features to be deployed in a VoIP network.Analysts predict that activity in the SBC market will continue to heat up as the revenue opportunity continues to grow.Kevin Mitchell, an analyst with Infonetics Research, estimates that the SBC market will reach $434 million in 2007 with a five-year CAGR of 96%.

The Service Providers’ need for SBC functionality is creating a rapidly growing market, which makes Session Border Controllers an attractive opportunity for existing VoIP and legacy Telco vendors.Jon Arnold, Principal of J Arnold & Associates, agrees“Session border controllers have recently emerged as a critical nextgen element as carriers increasingly find themselves handing off traffic from one IP network to another.”

Data Connection estimates that system vendors planning to develop and test a complete SBC solution internally, including all the necessary signaling protocols and media call control services, would require up to 100 man-years of development time, at a total cost of $25 million.Gaining the technology by acquisition could cost vendors 3 to 5 times as much.The DC-SBC solution allows vendors to jump into the SBC market with their existing hardware at a fraction of the time and cost.

“Time to market is a key success factor for any carrier offering IP services, and at this stage of market growth, it is too late for incumbent vendors to develop SBC in-house.Data Connection’s announcement provides such vendors with an opportunity to offer SBC functionality significantly faster and less expensively on their existing product lines” added Arnold.

DC-SBC is designed, developed, and supported by the same Data Connection engineering professionals who offer industry-leading source code protocols for VoIP (DC‑SIP, DC-MGCP, and DC-Megaco/H.248) and IP routing (DC-BGP, DC-ISIS, DC-OSPF, DC-RIP, DC-PIM, and DC-MPLS), as well as Class 5 softswitch solutions (MetaSwitch’s award-winning Class 5 Softswitch).Data Connection’s experience with these protocols and products provides users with the added comfort that the majority of software for DC‑SBC is well proven in live customer networks and products across the world.

Matthew Finlayson, VP of Development and Requirements for Data Connection’s Protocol Software, explains, “Our previous experience and existing product range gave us a tremendous head start with developing DC-SBC.The session components largely consist of our widely deployed VoIP signaling protocols and the media control pieces are derived from MetaSwitch’s softswitch, which has over 100 deployments.”

The result is that system vendors can now obtain a field-proven SBC software toolkit without heavily investing in internal development and test cycles.In fact, Data Connection calculates that over 80% of the DC-SBC software comprises code that has been shipping in existing DCL products for several years.DC-SBC comes pre-integrated with all the leading operating systems and is backed by Data Connection’s unrivaled customer support.

DC-SBC will be available in August 2005 under a variety of flexible pricing options.For more information please use dcsbc@dataconnection.com or call Pat Moore at +44 20 8366 1177.